This invention relates to identification tags and their manufacture. More especially, female identification tags.
The present invention will be described particularly in respect of an overmoulded animal female identification tag but it is to be understood that the invention has application for a wide variety of identification tags.
When a male tag engages with a female tag, it is important that the engagement is secure so that the tags are not readily detached, either accidentally, or intentionally for some fraudulent purpose.
To facilitate that secure engagement, various past proposals have been made. For example, in New Zealand patent 504742 (Allflex) the female tag includes a female opening with a plurality of projections directed inwardly of a hard boss, of which the opening forms part, so that the male head, after entry into the female opening, is retained by the projections or “fingers”. A problem with that proposal is that the female flag is tied to the hard boss only in a small area around the edge of the female opening.
Another proposal, in New Zealand patent 236752 (Stafford et al.), provides a female opening in the form of a domed split washer of resilient material, the outer peripheral edge of the washer being embedded in the soft plastics of the outer boss and female flag. That proposal, the manner of manufacture of which is unclear, has no provision for the inclusion of a hard material to protect the male head after insertion into the female tag in order to make the tag more tamper proof.
The present invention proposes the use of a female tag base section, including projections or “fingers”, such as in Allflex referred to above. A major advantage of such fingers is that they enable the tag to be used in very cold environments, including sub-zero temperatures. A continuous female opening would, in such temperatures, resist the entry of the male head. It is to be appreciated that where the term “projections” or “fingers” is used in the present specification, it is intended to encompass all suitable designs for this purpose, including the presence of existing slots or gaps between discrete projections, or lines of weakness or perforations which would be able to fracture on the entry of the male head.
It is thus an object of a preferred embodiment of the invention to provide a method of manufacture of a female identification tag and/or tags manufactured thereby, which will overcome, or alleviate, problems in such manufacture or tags to date, or which at least will provide the public with a useful choice.
Further objects of the invention in all its embodiments will become apparent from the following description.